“55 Dropsie Avenue was typical of most tenements. Its tenants were varied. Some came and went. Many remained there for a lifetime… imprisoned by poverty or other factors. It was a sort of micro-village – and the world was Dropsie Avenue.”

Would you like to see what this world looked like? A Contract with God is a graphic novel set during the Depression Era in a Bronx tenement. Eisner’s detailed drawings and stories illustrate what life was like for tenement dwellers during that time. A Contract with God does not gloss over the hardships of its subjects. The novel is a collection of four stories – the first story involves a man of faith who loses his faith and what happens after that. The second story shows how a wife-beating drunk street singer lost his chance to become a famous singer. The third gives you a look into the not so pretty life of the superintendent of a tenement and the fourth lets you experience first hand what vacations were like for the tenants during that time, complete with elicit affairs and the coming of age of 15 year old Willie. Would you like to see what life was like for these poverty-stricken tenants? Then read A Contract with God.

Chris Peeler

Hi!
I am the Media Specialist at Heather Ridge School in Frederick, Maryland and I love it! I graduated from Drexel University with a Masters in Library and Information Science. This blog was one of my assignments. The class is over now but the reading continues. Now I'm reading as many books as possible to share with my middle and high school students. I hope you enjoy reading about these books as much as I enjoyed reading them. Enjoy!